1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust valve which is mounted to a bag for keeping bedding such as blankets, comforters or the like, or clothes, and is used to deaerate the bag by using a suction nozzle of an electric vacuum cleaner or the like to compress contents of the bag to make the same compact.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, when a comforter, clothes or the like are stored in a closet or a chest, after being placed in a bag which is flat and is made of synthetic resin, the contents have been compressed by removing the air in the bag by using a vacuum device such as an electric vacuum cleaner in order to accommodate as many comforters, clothes or the like as possible in a limited closet space. Compression of the contents of the bag as mentioned above has been done not only in general homes but also by traders and manufacturers engaged in bedding. Further, compression of such bags has been done when a traveler put clothes and so forth in a suitcase.
In general, in order to compress the bag containing a comforter or the like, part of an open portion of the bag is opened by a fastener, which is provided at the open portion of the bag, through which a suction nozzle of an electric vacuum cleaner is inserted to have the bag deaerated. However, when the suction nozzle is inserted directly into the bag, the contents of the bag are sucked into an open end of the nozzle by a force of suction of the suction nozzle, which may not only cause damage to the contents but also stops up the suction nozzle, which further makes deaeration of the bag difficult, and may cause a failure of the electric vacuum cleaner because of a heavy load applied on a motor of the electric vacuum cleaner.
Therefore, the exhaust valve is mounted to the bag, through which the air in the bag is exhausted by the suction nozzle of the electric vacuum cleaner from outside to compress the bag, without inserting the suction nozzle of the electric vacuum cleaner into the bag.
The exhaust valve as mentioned above comprises a valve body and a cylindrical member. The valve body is mounted to a proper location of one side of the bag, and an exhaust opening portion, which is provided at a center part of the valve body, goes through into the bag. The cylindrical member is screwed to a threaded cylinder, which is provided to project at a center part of an upper surface of the valve body. The cylindrical member is provided with a valve plate to be integrated, which works to open and close the above-mentioned exhaust opening portion. The exhaust opening portion is opened by having the cylindrical member turned to have the valve plate distanced from the above-mentioned exhaust opening portion, and after a suction opening portion of the suction nozzle of the electric vacuum cleaner is fit to the cylindrical member, the air in the bag is suctioned and removed through the exhaust opening portion.
However, according to the exhaust valve structure as mentioned above, as suction of the air through the suction nozzle works only in the bag intensively, the vacuum (deaeration) continuous to be applied to the bag even after the bag is completely deaerated. Consequently, as in the above-mentioned case, a heavy load is applied on the motor of the electric vacuum cleaner, which causes a failure of the same. In addition, after the deaeration, the cylindrical member have to be turned to a direction of closure, it may happen that the air comes into the bag from outside through the exhaust opening portion during the turning operation. Consequently, there are such problems that the bag swells, and that it is difficult for elderly persons to handle the bag.
Further, in case the diameter of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner is different, it may happen that the suction nozzle can not fit to the cylindrical member, and suction and deaeration of the air in the bag can not be effectively carried out. Furthermore, when deaerated bags are piled one on the other, a corner of opening end of the cylindrical member or the like dips into a lower surface of a bag placed thereon and it is possible that contents of the bag may be damaged. Still further, when the cylindrical member unexpectedly turns in a direction, allowing the exhaust opening to partially open, there is a problem that the air comes into the bag from outside and the bag swells.
Moreover, the valve body is mounted to a proper location of one side of the bag by having the lower surface of the valve body adhered to the bag to be integrated by means of welding or the like so that the opening portion provided in the bag and the exhaust opening portion of the valve body can be communicated. Therefore, not only a mounting operation of the valve to the bag is complicated and requires time and effort but also it is possible that the air may come into the bag from outside after the deaeration is finished, in case adhesion of the valve body to the bag becomes deteriorated.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. An object of the invention is to provide an exhaust valve structure, in which a valve is automatically opened only by pressing a suction nozzle of an electric vacuum cleaner, whereby a bag can be deaerated without applying a heavy load on the electric vacuum cleaner, the valve is automatically closed upon releasing a pressing force of the suction nozzle after the deaeration is finished, a state of the closure of the valve can be locked, the exhaust valve can be used for deaeration of the bag irrespective of a diameter of the suction nozzle, and a mounting of the valve to the bag can be done easily and without fail.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the exhaust valve of the bag according to this invention comprises a valve body provided with an exhaust opening portion at a center of the lower part thereof to be communicated with a bag, a movable lid provided with an air intake going through from an upper surface to a lower surface thereof; said movable lid being mounted on the valve body movably in up-and-down directions, a valve plate for open and close of the exhaust opening portion, spring means for pressing the valve plate from the up position to fit the exhaust opening portion closely, and a valve plate operational mechanism for opening the valve plate by moving the valve plate upwards against a spring force of the spring means; said valve plate, spring means and valve plate operational mechanism being arranged in a chamber formed between the opposite surfaces of the movable lid and the valve body, wherein the valve plate operational mechanism is operated by pressing the movable lid down so as to open the valve plate and the air in the bag is exhausted from the air intake.
In the exhaust valve as structured above, the invention according to one embodiment has a structure wherein a plurality of leg members of a spring holder, which is arranged above the exhaust opening portion, are fixed on the upper surface of the valve body around a periphery of the exhaust opening portion and the spring means is held between the spring holder and the valve plate and each of opening portions between the adjacent leg members of the spring holder is communicated with the air intake of the movable lid.
Further, the invention may include a structure of the valve plate operational mechanism wherein the valve operating mechanism comprises a plurality of lever members which are integrated with the outer periphery of the valve plate at the inner ends of the lever members that the lever members radially project outwardly between each of the leg members of the spring holder, with fulcrum members projecting from the upper surface of the valve plate to receive the under surfaces of the middle of the length of the lever members in longitudinal direction thereof, and pressing projecting strips each projecting downwardly towards the under surface of the periphery of the movable lid so as to press the outer portion of the upper surface of the lever member which portion is located outside the fulcrum members.
Furthermore, the invention may comprise projecting guide members projecting at a periphery of the upper surface of the valve plate, and arc-shaped openings formed with the movable lid to face the projecting guide members so as to move the projecting guide members relative to the movable lid with rotation of the movable lid in the direction of the periphery thereof; an end portion of each of the arc-shaped openings being formed to be an opening for inserting the projecting guide members to be movable in an up-and-down direction therein and the other end being formed to be an opening having a stopper for stopping the downward movement of the movable lid by receiving the upper end surface of the projecting guide member.
The invention may include a structure wherein the valve body comprises an upper half part and a lower half part which are separably connected to one another so as to attach the valve body to the bag by holding a part of the bag from the outer and inner surfaces thereof, and the lower half part provides the exhaust opening portion at a center of the lower part, which opening portion is communicated with a small opening portion of the bag from the inside surface thereof, and the upper half part provides an opening portion for valve arrangement at a center of the upper half part so as to press and contact a packing, which is mounted to a lower peripheral part of the valve plate, with the upper surface of the periphery of the small opening portion of the bag. The movable lid may be formed to be domed-shape.
The invention, in one embodiment, has a structure wherein the movable lid is provided with a surrounding wall integrally and downwardly at a peripheral portion of a disc portion whose upper surface is flat, said disc portion having an air intake at a center thereof, and a sponge body having a predetermined thickness is laid around the air intake so as to enable pressing of an opening end of a suction nozzle against the sponge body.
In a further modification, the invention comprises a ring-shaped supporting frame provided with the lower half portion of the valve body, said frame having a plurality of small opening portion penetrating the upper and lower surfaces of the valve body.
As mentioned above, the exhaust valve for the bag according to the present invention comprises a valve body provided with an exhaust opening portion at a center of the lower part thereof to be communicated with a bag, a movable lid provided with an air intake going through from an upper surface to a lower surface thereof; said movable lid being mounted on the valve body movably in the up-and-down direction, a valve plate for opening and closing the exhaust opening portion, spring means for pressing the valve plate from the up to fit the exhaust opening portion closely, and a valve plate operating mechanism for opening the valve plate by moving the valve plate upwards against a spring force of the spring means; said valve plate, spring means and valve plate operating mechanism being arranged in a chamber formed between the opposed surfaces of the movable lid and the valve body, wherein the valve plate operational mechanism is operated by pressing the movable lid down so as to open the valve plate and the air in the bag is exhausted from the air intake.
Therefore, by pressing a suction nozzle of an electric vacuum cleaner against an upper surface of the movable lid to move the movable lid down toward a valve body, a valve plate can easily and automatically open via a valve plate operating mechanism and deaeration of a bag can be carried out immediately. After the deaeration, a valve can automatically close by a restoring force of a spring by releasing a pressing force of the suction nozzle against the movable lid without operating the movable lid.
Therefore, not only is the operation very easy whereby even elderly persons can carry out deaeration easily, but also the valve can be closed upon removing a suction nozzle of an electric vacuum cleaner from the movable lid in a way just like a remote control, wherefore the outside air is reliably prevented from reentering the bag after the deaeration, and the bag can be compressed to the extent possible, and furthermore handling quality and storage quality improve.
Further, the invention has structures wherein the spring is arranged in a state of compression between the valve body and the spring holder which is arranged above the exhaust opening portion, and wherein the valve plate operating mechanism comprises a plurality of lever members which are integrated with the outer periphery of the valve plate at the inner ends of the lever members so that the lever members radially project outwardly between each of the leg members of the spring holder, with fulcrum members projecting from the upper surface of the valve plate to engage the under surfaces of the middle of the length of the lever members in longitudinal direction thereof, and pressing projecting strips each projecting downwardly towards the under surface of the periphery of the movable lid so as to press the outer portion of the upper surface of the lever member which portion is located outside the fulcrum members. Therefore, at the time of deaeration of the bag, when the suction nozzle of the electric vacuum cleaner is pressed against the movable lid in order to move the movable lid down as mentioned above, the valve plate is moved up against the spring force to open the valve easily and without fail while the lever member is pivoted on the fulcrum in an up-and-down direction, and the air in the bag can be smoothly exhausted from the exhaust opening portion to the suction nozzle through the gap between the adjacent legs of the spring holder and the air intake.
Further, when the force of pressing down of the suction nozzle is released, the valve plate is immediately moved down by the restoring force of the spring and the exhaust opening portion is closed. And at the same time, the lever member is moved so that the surface of the outer end of the lever member returns to the original position together with the movable lid while keeping in contact with the pressing projecting strip of the movable lid.
According to one variant of the invention, the projecting guide members projecting at a periphery of the upper surface of the valve plate for receiving the outer end portion of each of the lever members and the arc-shaped openings formed with the movable lid to face the projecting guide members so as to move the projecting guide members relative to the movable lid with rotation of the movable lid in the direction of the periphery thereof; an end portion of each of the arc-shaped openings being formed to be an opening for inserting the projecting guide members to be movable in an up-and-down direction therein and the other end being formed to be an opening having a stopper for stopping the downward movement of the movable lid by receiving the upper end surface of the projecting guide member. Therefore, at the time of deaeration of the bag, the movable lid can be smoothly moved down along the projecting guide portions, and after the deaeration, when the movable lid is turned in a horizontal direction, the projecting guide portions are comparatively moved to the other part of the arc-shaped opening portions so that the upper surface thereof can face or come into contact with the lower surface the stoppers, and the movable lid can be locked in the position whereby the valve plate can not be unexpectedly opened.
Further, during the deaeration of the bag, the suction force of the suction nozzle also works on the arc-shaped opening portions of the movable lid via the vacuum-exhaust chamber of the valve body and the outside air can be sucked through the arc-shaped opening portion to the suction nozzle via the vacuum-exhaust chamber and the air intake. Therefore, after the bag is completely deaerated, the outside air can continue to be sucked through the arc-shaped opening portions, and the bag can be deaerated without applying excessive load on a motor of the electric vacuum cleaner.
Furthermore, since the valve body comprises an upper half part and a lower half part, between which a proper part of one side of the bag is held from back and front or in other words inside and outside thereof, the valve body can be mounted to the bag easily and firmly only by coupling the upper half part to the lower half part from outside of the bag, which lower half part is placed on a inner surface of the bag in a state that an exhaust opening portion provided at a center of the lower half part is fit to a small opening portion provided in the bag. In addition, a packing mounted to the lower surface of the valve plate is structured so as to come into contact with a part surrounding the small opening portion of the bag under pressure through an opening portion for valve arrangement provided in the center of the upper half part, whereby leak of the air and invasion of the outside air are prevented.
According to the invention since the upper surface of the movable lid is formed to be a dome-shape, even if deaerated bags are piled one on the other, there is no concern that the bag placed on the other will be damaged by a scratch of the movable lid. In addition, even if a diameter of the suction nozzle of the electric vacuum cleaner is different, an opening end of the suction nozzle can come into contact with the upper surface of the movable lid easily and without fail, and deaeration of the bag can be carried out easily and efficiently.
According to one embodiment, the movable lid comprises a disc portion whose upper surface is flat, a surrounding wall which is provided downwardly to be integrated with a periphery of the disc portion, an air intake which is provided in the center of the disc portion, and a sponge body with a predetermined thickness which is laid on a part surrounding the air intake. Therefore, deaeration can be carried out by pressing a suction nozzle with any shape and any caliber against the sponge body, and it can be prevented that a heavy load is applied to a motor of an electric vacuum cleaner as the outside air is sucked through the sponge body.
According to another embodiment, the invention further comprises a ring-shaped supporting frame provided with the lower half portion of the valve body, said frame having a plurality of small opening portion penetrating the upper and lower surfaces of the valve body. Therefore, by providing a ring-shaped supporting frame, having a plurality of small openings going from an upper surface through a lower surface thereof, to be integrated with the lower half part of the valve body, the contents of the bag can be compressed smoothly while preventing filling material such as feathers from moving intensively to the exhaust opening portion.